University of Chicago Library

Guide to the Warren J. Day Papers 1963-1997

Descriptive Summary

Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.

Abstract:

This collection contains the papers of Warren J. Day. It primarily consists of documents pertaining to the 1970 Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh. The collection includes documents related to Bangladesh from the Emergency Relief Organization and the Airlift of Understanding, English-language newspapers and magazines, and general reference material published by government and nongovernmental organizations. The collection dates from 1963 to 1997, with the bulk of the material dating between 1970 and 1973.

Information on Use

Access

This collection is open for research.

Citation

When quoting material from
this collection, the preferred citation is: Guide to the Warren J. Day Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Biographical Note

Warren "Bud" Day was born in 1927 in Centralia, Illinois . At seventeen, he enlisted in the United States Navy. In 1950 Day received an honorable discharge as an ensign (civil engineering) with a Victory Medal and American Area Campaign Medal. He was declared a conscientious objector in the early 1950s and acted as a conscientious objector counselor from 1970 to1978.

In 1948 Day received a B.A. from the University of Illinois in Civil Engineering and Masters of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary in 1951. Day was awarded a Fulbright a Scholarship in 1951 and traveled to India. Later in his life, he also received masters in sanitary engineering and counseling/guidance from the University of Illinois.

Politically active throughout his life, Day was involved in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Vietnam War Protests in the 1960s and 1970s, various anti-apartheid movements in the 1970s and 1980s, and protests against the Afghanistan and Iraq wars in the 2000s. He was also extensively involved in charitable activity and worked extensively in India and Bangladesh.

This collection is primarily concerned with Day's involvement in aid organizations that responded to the 1970 Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh and the aftermath of the India-Pakistan Conflict. Day was part of a small group who initiated the Emergency Relief Fund for Bangladesh. Because he had lived for 11 years in India, and was fluent in Hindi and Urdu, he was particularly well suited to respond to this crisis. As an ordained Presbyterian minister, he worked at United Ministries in Higher Education at Michigan State University and worked closely with Bangladeshi students there to further understand what Americans could do to help the situation. He took his first trip to Bangladesh in January of 1972 to arrange for the visit of American relief workers.

The result of this trip was the "Airlift of Understanding." In groups of 2 or 3, Americans traveled throughout Bangladesh. They listened to the Bangladeshis talk about their war experiences, and they met with the new Prime Minister Sheik Mujibar Rahman and the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Upon returning to the United States, these participants shared their experiences, hoping to raise money for the Bangladeshi people and to encourage the United States to reconsider its foreign policy towards Bangladesh.

Warren Day died in 2003 in Arizona.

Scope Note

This collection contains the papers of Warren Day. It primarily consists of documents pertaining to the 1970 Bhola cyclone in Bangladesh. The collection includes documents related to Bangladesh from the Emergency Relief Organization and the Airlift of Understanding, English-language newspapers and magazines, and general reference material published by government and nongovernmental organizations. The collection dates from 1963 to 1997, with the bulk of the material dating between 1970 and 1973.

This collection is divided into 3 series: Series I Personal; Series II Aid Organizations; and Series III Published Material on Bangladesh. All folders are in chronological order by latest dated document within the folder, with the exception of the aid organizations series and the binder subseries. The aid organization series is organized alphabetically by aid organization name and then chronologically. The binders subseries is organized by Day's original binder numbers.

Series I, Personal, consists of Day's personal correspondence.

Series II, Aid Organizations, contains documents and publications related to aid organizations concerned with Bangladesh in the 1970s. Of the organizations in this collection, Day was involved in the Emergency Relief Fun and the Airlift of Understanding.

Series III, Published Material on Bangladesh, contains published material related to Bangladesh, collected by Day. It is divided in 4 subseries: